(“So let’s settle on a virtual box.)

“Ride your horse in the box,” but “Don’t box him in!” What the hell? With advice like that, no wonder dressage riders consume wine by the flagon! In DRESSAGE Unscrambled I tried to find many ways to describe riding your horse “in the box” in a useful, constructive way. To “box him in” implies strictures and constraint, which inhibit his movement and his spirit, both anathema to the intent of good dressage.

That’s why we speak of surrounding your horse with the aids—the magnetic bottle which defines his space and yet frees him to work within it, the Theremin which is played without touching it, the light touch of the potter’s hand on his clay as it spins on the wheel, and the comical bottomless cart which guides the cattle through town to their new pasture. Add in the curling, pointillism, and calculus analogies, and you’ll see I’m far from the “jam and cram camp.

Okay, so let’s settle on a virtual box. You don’t want to impede, unfairly restrict, or otherwise wound your horse’s psyche, but excuse me, you ARE allowed to be in control of where you’re going. I was just on a student’s young horse for the first time. A fancy creature who had managed to qualify for the Regionals. Big movement as long as she was held together but distressingly unsteerable if you freed her in front and invited her to track straight.

Sorry, no matter what her scores had been, if a horse radically falls through your inside leg in each corner or won’t follow the inside track without bulging through your outside leg and clinging to the rail, you’ve got a problem!

Lower level horses—“greenies” in particular—are going to be less maneuverable than their more experienced counter parts. But the corridor of your aids should be as clear and well defined as possible. Plus-or-minus a super highway’s width won’t cut it. Aim for plus-or-minus the width of the yellow line down center of the road. And graduate to a knife-edge balance where you can put your horse’s withers in front of your belt buckle and guide them on precisely the line you choose.